1. Field
The aspects of the disclosed embodiments generally relate to positioning and locations systems, and in particular to verifying consumer location or presence in a certain place and associating names and tags to certain places.
2. Brief Description of Related Developments
One big trend in mobile marketing is the “check-in” feature. In a check-in service, consumers use, for example, a mobile device, to inform a service that they are in a certain location such as, for example, a shop or restaurant. Check-in generally refers to a user confirming to the check-in service provider that he is actually in a specific place such as a shop or restaurant using the mobile device. There is a need for higher accuracy for these kinds of check-ins, as they are increasingly being connected with actual value services that give cash rewards for customer loyalty. There is a need for verification of the check-in to confirm that the user is really in the specific place he claims to be.
Indoor location technologies are generally known. In one example, a mobile terminal (MT) or other mobile device scans a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) environment and uses, for example, the Time Difference on Arrival (TDOA) to estimate the distance of the mobile terminal from a transmitting antenna. As the TDOA is measured from several base stations, the location can be estimated.
Another method of indoor location is the so-called fingerprinting method using a Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI). Location fingerprinting is used to determine the location of the mobile device based upon matching the information from multiple receivers (or transmitters) with earlier measurements.
One problem with earlier location methods is that they require detailed maps of the indoor environments to be available. Additionally, they require updating the database if the setup of the WLAN network is changed. Adding further to the problem is the fact that traditional means of determining a location, i.e. Global Positioning System (GPS), are often not possible to use inside buildings.
The methods of TDOA and matching RSSI fingerprints to detailed maps also typically require a significant amount of signal processing capability on the mobile terminal.
WO2011019125A1 describes a method of determining an indoor position in which a wireless terminal is located by using a signal fingerprint of a WLAN received signal strength indicator (RSSI) in combination with a place label inputted by a user to a place server. One problem with this prior art location method is that it requires the user to provide a place label.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a system that addresses at least some of the problems identified above.